Enterprise application integration (EAI) deals with the methods and techniques for unifying disparate applications at the back-end in order to facilitate the provision of enhanced composite applications that provide richer functionality and better abstraction that what was available before. The effort to achieve EAI is relatively large. Such initiatives also require much financial sponsorship and implementation time. This is because of the far reaching impact of modifying and re-engineering legacy applications and back-end systems.
The problem of application integration is compounded when heterogeneous applications require to be integrated. This is because the underlying implementation technologies of the individual applications can be very disparate, thereby causing the integration process to be complex and time-consuming.
Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) is the current methodology that the information technology (IT) industry believes will help in defining a systematic approach to total enterprise application integration. This is because SOA not only provides an architecture philosophy, but it also covers non-technical/management issues concerning EAI. Governance, cost analysis, and project management are some of the non-technical issues that are addressed in a proper SOA based enterprise system.
Over the long term SOA promises dramatic improvements such as cycle time reduction, ultimate levels of reuse, and proper management of back end enterprise software services. However, its effects are visible mostly over a period spanning a few years. In general, SOA is not a short term solution. It is also common that end users and business sponsors do not see visible benefits of adopting SOA in the short term.
Hence there is a need for a system that integrates and interoperates heterogeneous applications without requiring changes to the application code or design, thereby reducing the time-to-market of the integrated system. The reduction in time would enable businesses to operate more efficiently. Reuse of existing applications without making changes to the code or design helps businesses in maximizing the use of their existing software assets.